Arc-extinguisher.



F. M. LOCKE.

ARC EXTINGUISHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 27, 1912.

1,116,303, Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

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Z 35 affozncu FRED M. LocKE, or vrc'ron, NEW YORK.

ARC-EXTINGUISHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 27, 1912.

Patented Nov. 3, Serial No. 886,554;

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED M. Locus, of Victor,in the county of'Ontario, in the State of New York, have invented newand useful Improvements in Arc-Extinguishers, of which the following,taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear,and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in electric arcextinguishers of the class set'forth in my pending application#(illjiofi filed July 31, 1911. in which the arc is instantly brokenupon its formation by the blast of an explosive ignited by such are.

It is well known that in overland transmission of electric current andparticularly that of high voltage, the feed wires which are supported atintervals upon suitable insulators usually of high electrical resist-'ance become surcharged with extra current especially during severeelectrical storms and that this excess of current in seeking the courseof least resistance to the ground is more or less localized at andupon'the in" sulators thereby producing arcs of abnormal sizeand tensionbetween diiferent v portions of the insulator or between such insulatorand its supporting arm or pin. Under: these conditions it frequentlyhappens that one ormore insulators and their supporting pins and crossarms vill be burnt out or broken down to such an extent as to shortcircuit the feed wire to the ground or otherwise, thereby. cutting offfurther distribution of the current. It has been discovered that thesearcs form most frequently between the edges of the upper surfaces of theinsulator and its supporting arm, and that if some means-could bedevised for breaking the are at substantially the same instant that itis formed, the destructive results hereinbcfore mentioned would belargely obviated, and the main object of my present invention is toprovide simple means for localizing any are or arcs which may be formedat different points around the edge of the insulator and to utilize theheat developed by the localization'of such are in igniting an explosiveand directing the blast across the arc to=extinguish the same instantlyupon its formation, thereby preserving the integrity of the insulatorand its supporting means and also permitting the use of the samereceptacle and terminals for the. reception and 'ignition of anadditional explosive charge.

Other objects and uses will be brought out in the (Followingdescription:

In the dra\vings-Figure 1 is a side ele- 'vation of an insulator andportion of a conductor supported thereon. together with the insulatorsupport and a series of my improved arc-breaking devices in operativeposition around the insulator. Fig.- 2 is an elevation of the sameinsulator, conductor and support showing a plurality of are breakingdevices supported on the cross arm at different pointsaround the.insulator in a manner slightly different from that shown in Fig. 1. Fig.3 is'an enlarged sectional view through one of the cartridges andigniting terminals.

These are extinguishers are adapted to be used in connection with anyform of insulator but more especially with the larger insulators adaptedto carry the conductors as A- for high potential current and for thispurpose I have shown the usual sectional type of insulator 1- composedof hellshaped sections nested one Within the other -iv1th suitable meansas a tie wire a' for attaching the feed Wire A-- to the top ofthe'insulator. This insulator is supported upon a suitable central pinbwhich is secured in the usual manner to a cross arm 'B of a pole ortower not shown.

The upper insulator section to which the feed \vire is directly scour-edis of considerably greater surface ar a than the remaining underlyinginsulator 'ons and although it is supported considerable dis tance abovethe cross arni'to form a comparatively long intervening air 3 to reduceas far as possible any liability of hort circuit from the feed wire tothe ground through the pole under. normal conditions, it is alwaysexposed to the direct action of abnormal charges or surcharges ofelectricity from the feed \vireparticularly during electric storms whenthe highly surcharged current following the feed wire ill be localizedat the'insulator, the surface of which under such conditions is more orless moist, thereby increasing the tendency of the highly surchargedcurrent to are across such intervening air space to the cross arm andthence to the ground through the pole. This abnormal arcing of the currusually takes place between the outer ed,

of the upper insulator section and its sup porting pin or cross armaccording to the course of least resistance and frequently results inburning out or breaking down the insulator and its supports and in orderto obviate as far as possible these destructive results, I haveinterposed one or more, in this instance four, sets of electriconduetors --l and 2 in the gap betr: een the uppermost insulator sectionand cross arm and have connected in each set of conductors a cartridgeshell -3 plosive material such as a body of powder -l and a suitable wador plug 3-, the latter serving to retain the powder in the cartridgeshell 3-.

As shown in Fig. 1, the conductors -2- converge downwardly and inwardlytoward the insulator pin bwhere they are preficrably united to eachother and supported upon said pin so that the conductors --2- constitutesupports for holding the can tridges -23 at different points around theinsulator but some distance apart therefrom with their plugged endspointing toward the are which may be formed between the conductor andcross arm.

A portion, preferably the bottom at least of the shell 3 containing theexplosive lis made of electric conducting material as metal and in thisinstance this metallic portion of the shell is connected directly to thesupport -2- so as to form one of the ignition terminals for theexplosive. The conductor 1- constitutes the other i ition terminal andis permanently secure to an insulated portion 5- of the shell as bestseen in Fig. 3, said conductor -1-- having its lower end extending intothe interior of the shell -3- where it is surrounded by the explosive4-- and is spaced apart from the adjacent end of the other ignitionterminal -2 a distance somewhat less than from other points of the metalportion of the shell so as to produce a spark for igniting theexplosive. In other words the insulating material 5- at either side ofthe conductor 1 is of greater width than the distance between thesparking ends of the conductors -1 and ,Qrso as to quicken the ignitionof the explosive instantly upon the formation of any are which may tendto form between the conductor and insulator or between the insulater andits support. As a further means of causing the instantaneous combustionof the explosive, the conductors 1 are extended upwardly to points inproximity to but separated from the periphery of the uppermost insulatorsection so as to lie in the path of any arc which may tend to formbetween the conductor and insulator or between the insulator and itssupport, thereby inducing the arc to follow the conductors 1 and -2-before reaching the insulator supcontainin an ex-' port, thus ignitingthe explosive and direct ing the blast across the arc to extinguish thesame instantly upon its formation and before it has time to do anymaterial damage to the insulator or its support' In Fig. 2 I have shownthe conductors -2' corresponding to the conductors -2- as mounteddirectly upon the cross arm and supporting the cartridge shell -3- insuch position as to direct the blast across any arcs which may be formedbetween the edges of the insulator sections and cross arm. Otherwise theconstruction of the cartridge and terminals 1 are substantially the sameas shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The main features of the invention, howeverconsist broadly first in positioning the cartridge so as to direct theblast of the ex plosive into or across any are which may tend to formbetween the conductor and insulator or between the insulator and itssupport; second, to arrange the igniting terminals so as to divert aportion at least of the arc thereto and into the explosive instantlyupon the formation of such are, thereby igniting the explosive anddischargin; the .blast into the arc with suflicient force to extinguishit immediately upon its formation and third supporting one of theterminal conductors permanently in the cartridge so that the samecartridge and terminals may be reused by refilling the shell with anexplosive and inserting a new plug or wad. Further than this, theconstruction of the cartridge and manner of supporting the terminals maybe varied without departing from the spirit of my invention.

hat I claim is:

1. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosivematerial, a conductor having a portion lying adjacent the path of apossible are and a portion extending within the receptacle and insulatedtherefrom so that upon the formation of an arc. a spark passing betweenthe conductor and the receptacle will ignite the explosive ductor havinga portion lying in the pathof a possible arc'and another portionextending through a wall of said recep and insulated therefrom and incontact with the explosive material, a terminal in connection with saidreceptacle so that upon the formation of an arc, a spark passing betweenthe conductor and the terminal wil ignite the explosive and therebyextinguish the arc.

3. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosivematerial, a. conductor having a portion lying in the path of a possibleare and another portion extending through a wall of said receptacle andinsulated therefrom and in contact with the explosive material,a-terminal in connection with and forming a support for said receptacleso that upon the formation of cle, said conducting member separated fromthe wall of the receptacle through which it passes by insulatingmaterial of greater radius than the/distance between said-conductingmember and said terminal.

5. In an arc extinguisher, a receptacle containing an explosivematerial, a conductor having a portion lying in the path of a possiblearc.and another portion ex tending through a wall,of said receptacle, aterminal in connection with said receptacle, said conducting memberseparated from the wall of the receptacle through which it passes byinsulating material of greaterradius than' the distance between saidconducting member and said terminal. '6. In an arc extinguisher, -areceptacle containing an explosive material, a conductor having aportion lying in the path of a possiblearc and another ortion extendingthrough a Wall of sai receptacle and insulated therefrom, a terminal inconnertion with said receptacle so that upon the formation of an are aspark passin betweenthe conductor and the terminal Wil ignite theexplosive and thereby extinguish the arc.

7. In an explosive cartridge for are ex tinguishers, a metal casingclosed at one end and open at the other end and having removable plug inthe open end, a conducting member having an exposed portion and anotherportion cxtendinginto the metal casing and insulated therefrom and sopositioned that aspark passing, between the conductor and the casingwill ignite the explosive.

In, witness whereof l have hereunto set m 'hanil on this 1.) day ofMarch 1912.

FRED M, LUCKE.

\Vitnesses C. A. Mooua, A, lllGINBO'IIIAM.

